CHERRIES. 49 



gives a pleasing variety of color to our decorative cabinet or carpentry work 

 ■which, of late years, have iutrodnced a new charm to dwellings, offices, stores, 

 railroad cars, steamboats and private carriages. Tiie wood is hard without 

 being coarse or knotty, and its grain, though not prominent, is fine and 

 beautiful. 



THE GUM. 



There is nothing in connection with the cherry which is not of interest and 

 value. Even the gum which exudes from its wounds is precious for medical 

 purposes, and makes an excellent mucilage of daily value in every ofiice, 

 library, or sanctum. 



A UNIVERSAL BLESSING. 



In every position of life the cherry contributes in some way to the comfort, 

 enjoyment and service of man ; its wood is used to form the cradle of infancy ; 

 the chairs, tables, bedsteads, bureaus, desks, and cabinets of mature years, and 

 when our time of final transport to another world arrives, it commonly forms 

 the final casket of our mortal remains. The fruit is the first to tempt our 

 youthful appetites, for who has not stolen cherries in his boyish days ? It 

 forms the most showy fruit in the market at any season of the year only 

 equalled by the precious strawberry; it makes unquestionably the best canned 

 fruit in the market, as no fruit preserves in the can its flavor and its color like 

 the cherry; as a dried fruit it has no equal in the whole realm of commerce; 

 for the table and for pastry, the cherry cannot be excelled ; for wine it is 

 nearly equal to the grape itself, while its curative properties are universally 

 conceded, and creates for it a universal demand. Whilst therefore it gives 

 pleasure to youth, it comforts the aged and relieves the afflicted ; whilst its 

 rich color is the acknowledged standard of beauty on the lips of the most 

 charming of womankind. 



Need I say more for the cherry ? Do not mistake me as claiming that the 

 cherry is the panacea for.every ill and the fountain of every blessing. I simply 

 claim for it a prominent place among the fruits of our favored country, and 

 thtinkful and proud should we be that we live in a land and enjoy a climate 

 where this fruit can be grown so easily, so cheaply, and so abundantly. 



7 



